Math Problems
by Lionheart261
Summary: Mina wants to be prepared for an upcoming math test, and thus asked her friend Momo to help her study. However, when her efforts hit a snag, Mina's frustration lets loose some bottled up emotions, and it's up to Momo to provide some much-needed perspective. One-shot.


"Ugh, this! Is! Impossible!"

Mina set down the textbook in a huff, the math equations held within rapidly turning into a jumble of numbers and letters which her brain couldn't process. Sitting across from her on the floor of Mina's flashy dorm room was Momo, who had agreed to assist her in studying for the upcoming math test, and had thus anticipated a great deal of effort being required.

"Remember, you just need to take it one problem at a time-" she began, before Mina cut her off.

"I **am **taking them one at a time, and none of them make any damn sense!" she replied angrily, causing Momo to fall silent for a second before she realized her mistake. "Sorry! I shouldn't be taking it out on you, it's just...ugh!" Mina's hands were stuck into her hair as she gave in to her frustrations, while Momo simply smiled serenely, always able to remain calm when it was required.

"Perhaps we should take a break," she suggested, to which Mina simply let out an embarrassed, frustrated groan in response.

A minute later, the math book was safely removed away from Mina's line of sight, and the two sat across from each other, Momo partaking in one of Mina's many snacks while Mina herself sat dejectedly, mulling over her failure.

"This sucks," Mina said softly, getting Momo's attention. "We could have been done with this like an hour ago if my stupid brain could just-"

"Hey," Momo countered, firmly and immediately. "Enough of that, alright? I will assist you for as long as such assistance is deemed necessary, but I don't want to hear you beating yourself up. Okay?"

Mina sighed, still caught in a spiral. "It's not like I'm wrong, though," she said. "I've always lagged behind everyone else. I got the second-lowest grade on the final, I lost to Principal Nezu, I spent most of what camp time we did get stuck in those remedial classes-"

"Mina," Momo interrupted, but Mina was persistent.

"I just, I look at the others and it feels like they're doing so much better at, like, everything! Bakugo always wins, Midoriya and Todoroki are crazy smart and crazy strong, and-hell! Kirishima used to get picked on for his Quirk, and now he's a powerhouse!"

By this point, Momo was starting to become a little cross. "Mina, you can't just-"

"Ochaco and Tsuyu got into an awesome work study, Kirishima and Midoriya got into awesome work studies, almost everyone else at least manages to get by with solid marks-"

"You shouldn't be comparing yourself to-!"

"And then there's **you**!" Mina said, slightly exasperated, while Momo stared back at her, at a loss for words. "Y-you have the best grades out of anyone in our whole year, you've got an awesome Quirk, you're practically a Pro out in the field, and-!"

"Stop," Momo said, so calmly, yet forcefully that Mina found herself reluctant to talk further.

"I-I was just saying-"

"I **heard **what you were saying. Now, you will listen to what **I **am saying." Although she didn't raise her voice, to Mina her words carried greater impact than the loudest of Bakugo's expletive, explosive rants. "I will not have you singing my praises if you mean to use my own virtues to tear yourself down. I value our friendship too highly to allow you to continue to engage in such behavior. So...I don't want to hear another word along that train of thought for the rest of the evening. Is that understood?" Cowed by the intensity of Momo's speech, all Mina could do was nod hurriedly.

"Okay, okay. I'm...I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the floor. Momo looked at her as she withdrew further into herself, before sighing deeply. With a slight effort, she scooted herself closer, until she was face to face with Mina. She placed a hand on her left shoulder, partly to comfort her, and partly so that she would look up, directly into her eyes. The pink girl found herself blushing a light shade of magenta, thrown off by their new proximity.

"Look, Mina," Momo began, her calm, kind manner returning as she looked into Mina's golden eyes. "I...care about you, a great deal," she said, blushing slightly and looking away as her other hand fiddled with her hair. After she regained her composure, she finished her thought. "And I know beyond doubt that you are...for lack of a better descriptor, 'too good' to be thinking about yourself in such negative terms." Mina, blushing herself from Momo's kind words, was left confused.

"B-but, I'm not nearly as-"

"I'm not talking about your grades or your performance, I'm talking about **you**!" Momo replied, the closest she had gotten to raising her voice that entire time. "Y-you are creative, and passionate, and so full of energy that I can hardly keep up with you sometimes! You find a way to get along with almost everyone you meet! You understand people in ways that I cannot even begin to comprehend!" She laughed breathlessly, while Mina struggled to form a response. "So what if it takes you several minutes to complete an algebra problem, or you have trouble altering a plan on the fly? What about any of that suggests you're any less intelligent than anyone else?"

Mina, for her part, couldn't really come up with an answer. "I dunno...my grades, I guess? I mean, they're worse than almost everyone else's."

"Everyone else in the top class of the top hero course in the country," Momo reminded her. "Besides, the important thing is that you have remained committed towards success. Yes, you had to take remedial lessons, but you showed up for those remedial lessons. You have taken time out of your day to study with me and others when you needed to, and you have paid close attention to where you can possibly improve. In all the ways that matter, you are just as dedicated a student as anyone else here."

Mina looked at Momo, uncertain. "You really think so?" she asked, to which Momo smiled.

"I **know **so," she said confidently. "And if I am as unbelievably smart as you say I am, then I think that assessment holds a great deal of merit."

Mina smiled slightly, not knowing what to say. "...Thanks, Momo," she said eventually, her eyes sparkling a little in their usual fashion. Momo found herself blushing a fair amount, but pushed that aside.

"Think nothing of it. Just..." She paused, trying to come up with the words that she wanted to say before she ultimately placed both hands on Mina's shoulders and looked into her eyes intensely. "Mina...you're **amazing**," she said, so earnestly that Mina couldn't help blushing even further. "And I don't want to hear anyone telling you that you aren't. Especially not yourself. Alright?"

After a couple seconds of deliberation, Mina smiled, wider this time, the same way that she usually smiled. "Alright," she said, her confidence returning. For a while, neither of them said anything, both of them happy but also becoming increasingly aware of the other's proximity to them. They both felt the sense that they should do...something, but they had no idea what. Eventually, Mina broke the silence after glancing towards the discarded math textbook.

"Hey, uh, Momo?" Mina asked, blushing, all too aware that Momo's hands continued to rest on her shoulders.

Momo took a second to respond, having found herself lost in Mina's striking eyes for longer than she would have liked to admit. When she did, she was blushing an even deeper shade of red than Mina was magenta. "Y-yes, Mina?"

"Could we try problem number seven again? I...I think I'm ready to take another stab at it...if you don't mind walking me through it?"

Momo smiled, her earlier awkwardness mostly evaporating now that she had something more concrete to focus on. "Yes, of course!" she said, moving to get the textbook from where she had left it and turning to the page they needed. "Are you ready?"

Mina looked back at her happily, pencil and notebook in hand as she scooted up a little closer to her. "Ready!"

Momo nodded, moving a little closer herself so that Mina could get a better view of the book and her own explanations. "Excellent. Now, problem number seven wants you to determine the fourteenth term in the sequence it displays below, right?"

"Uh huh."

"And, as you can see, there are four terms in the sequence that we know-"

"One, two, three, and five."

"That's right! Now, look at the terms that we know back to back, and tell me what you see. To start with, you have one and two..."

"One and two...two is one plus one..."

"Mhm."

"And three is two plus one..."

"And after that?"

"Five...five is three plus two."

"Indeed! Now, what would you say is the next term in the sequence?"

"Hm...so, it looks like it's the thing before...plus the thing before that...so the next one would be...eight!"

"Yes, exactly! Now, the problem wants you to represent the rule in the form of an equation, so the easiest way for you to do that in this case is with something called a recursive formula..."

* * *

Hello, everyone! Lion here.

This short little one shot is a bit of a departure from my comfort zone, in that it's written about a ship that I personally don't really follow that much, and honestly only considered recently: Momo Yaoyorozu and Mina Ashido. The other day, I was looking around for fics of random MHA pairings to see what people had written, and I was surprised to find there wasn't too much which paired the girls of class 1-A with each other, aside from a handful of Momojiro and Ochamina fics. Looking at some "Yaomina" fanart on Twitter made me think of that, and when I looked into what fics I could find for that pairing, the results were...to put it bluntly, strange. As such, seeing as I have been attempting to write 50,000 words before the end of this month and needed something new to write about anyway, I figured I'd play around with the idea and give those people who do follow this ship a small helping of content to enjoy. At the very least, I hope this short fic was enjoyable for you all-it was definitely a fun one to write, that's for sure. With that said, hope you all have a fantastic night, and take care.


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